Page 70 of A Nameless Highland Laird
“What has happened?”
There were no polite niceties or greetings. Gone was the charming, refined man. And in his place was a man who made it very clear why he was the Laird’s advisor. She watched carefully as Cameron shifted out of the window and walked over to Alastair. They stood just in front of the fireplace, close enough for her to still be able to hear, but far enough away that she wasn’t really a part of the conversation.
“Laird Sinclair sent this to Charlotte.”
Another beat of silence as Alastair read the letter had Charlotte squirming. She no longer knew where she stood. If her father didn’t want the marriage to happen, then she couldn’t blame Cameron for sending her away and ending their betrothal. Especially with everything that was going on with Alec. She didn’t know where to go. She was unwanted anywhere she turned.
Her heart cracked, threatening to break, but she kept her composure. She certainly wasn’t going to make things harder on Cameron than they had to be. She could, at the very least, keep her emotions to herself.
“I will send for the troops at once. We will call as many as we can to gather here. All of our focus will be on training as a unit and securing as much of the border as possible.”
Alastair left no room for argument in his declaration. Cameron didn’t bother trying to fight him on it. All three knew that was the only thing that could be done anyway.
“Whatever happens, ye are going to have to stay behind the battle lines.”
“Nay,” Cameron said, cutting Alastair off. “I will nae hide while my men do all of the fighting for me. Ye read the letter. They are coming after me specifically.”
“Ye can nae expose the fact that ye have nae been trained as a warrior. The others will find that verra odd.”
“It will nae matter if they find it odd. If I donnae fight, I may nae have a clan to rule anyways.”
“Cameron,” Alastair started to say, but Cameron shook his head and raised a hand.
Turning, Cameron faced Charlotte where she sat on the sofa, eyes wide and red.
“Ye need to go.”
She nodded, understanding where he was coming from, but still having to blink back tears.
“I will get Elizabeth to help me pack my things.”
“Nay, Charlotte,” Cameron argued, already sounding tired. “Nae to pack. Ye need to stay in yer chambers so that I ken ye are safe. If the soldiers are going to start arriving then the castle will soon be full. And there is nay telling how quickly this war will start. Ye can nae be roaming the grounds without an escort. So until that can be arranged, please, stay in yer chambers and have the maids fetch ye anything ye might need.”
His words rang through her with a shock. He wasn’t sending her away or getting rid of her for all the trouble she’s caused, he was only trying to keep her safe. If staying in her rooms meant that Cameron would better be able to focus on the impending battle, then she would do that.
“Aye. I will go.” She rose from the sofa but hesitated at the door.
She wanted to ask if Cameron would come to see her again or if they would speak before the day was over. But with Alastair present, it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to invite Cameron to her rooms. So she bowed her head and slipped out into the hall.
The sound of their muffled voices picked up almost as soon as she had shut the door behind her. She had watched her father plan enough battles to know that they would be in for a late night.
As agreed, she hurried back to her rooms. But she wasn’t content to sit there and stay put. She had made enough of a mess of things. She needed to feel like she was contributing in some way, even if it was something small.
Moving to her sitting room, Charlotte wasted no time in drafting a response to her father. She might not have known what he had been plotting all this time, but she knew well enough now. And she was going to do everything she could to stop him.
Her pen flew over the paper as she wrote, begging her father to stop these attacks. She explained that she understood his plan now and wished she had been let in on things from the beginning. She told him that Cameron was a reasonable Laird, to not believe all the rumors that had been spread about him. She did her best to get him to see reason. And at the very end, she promised that if she could arrange a meeting between the two of them, Cameron would do everything he could to make things right.
She had no idea what Cameron could have done to anger her father so fully. The longer she thought about it, the more she started to wonder if her father was angry at a different man entirely. Getting them in a room together would be all it would take to get any sane person to see that Cameron was not malicious or cruel for sport. If she could manage that, then this entire war would be averted. And perhaps she would still get to marry Cameron at the end of it all.
Waiting only long enough to let the ink dry, Charlotte folded the letter and sealed it before summoning a servant. She rang the bell twice but no one came. There wasn’t much time left in the day for her to send out a letter, so deciding to forgo Cameron’s advice, she left her rooms.
She moved quickly, not wanting to be stopped or caught as much as she wanted the letter to be sent off. To her relief, she found the messenger in the courtyard, still packing his saddle.
“Wait!” She called out, stopping him from leaving just yet. “Please, I have one more letter for ye.”
The young man nodded, taking the note from her hand.
“This one needs to be delivered first. Dinnae give it to anyone besides Laird Sinclair. It must be put in his hands,” she ordered, emphasizing the importance of the task. “For payment.”
